


How to Fake Your Own Death And Still be Loved By Everyone by Kaito of the Momota Clan

by Closeted_Calliope



Category: Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Genre: F/M, Faking Death, Gen, Kaito is a Prince, Kokichi is Kaito’s brother because PLOT DEVICE ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), M/M, Maki is an assassin (duh), OT3, Other, Semi-Modern Kindom AU, Shuichi hasn’t shown up yet but I’ll edit the tags once he does arrive, Shuichi is a dectective (also duh), Slow Burn, based off Tumblr post, burn so slow by the time they realize it they’re already on fire, characters to be added as they appear or as I decide their role, hiding evidence, idk how to describe it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 08:01:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13430424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Closeted_Calliope/pseuds/Closeted_Calliope
Summary: (Based on post by tumblr users writing-prompt-s and galwednesday)Kaito is the prince of a small kingdom that has suffered for generations from bankruptcy. With financial crisis looming over him, he decided to take desperate measures.....Maki Harukawa is the best assassin in the country, though the only people that see her work die very shortly after. When she gets a job to kill the prince of a nearby kingdom, she doesn’t think much of it at first. But when she goes to take him out, she realizes that this job isn’t going to be as easy as she thought.........Shuichi Saihara is a local detective trying to stay out of the spotlight. But when the queen comes to him asking him to solve the murder of her son, he financially can’t refuse. And when the mystery reveals to be much bigger than he could’ve imagined, Shuichi needs to decide what’s most important to him.....A tale of love, danger, adventure, faking your own death, and a very lovable moron.(I’ve never written a DR fanfic before so sorry for the shit description)





	1. 1. A Terrible Last Resort

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw a post on tumblr (I’d link it but I’m on my phone) that I feel perfectly describes the relationship between Maki and Kaito (and I added Shuichi because OT3) so this is now a thing. I’ve never written a DR fanfic, nor written about an OT3 before, so please monokuma (bear) with me. Enjoy!!!
> 
> Also I’m sorry about that terrible and overused joke.
> 
> (I know Kaito canonically lives with his grandparents but this is an au so I can do what I want)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince Kaito develops a plan

“Are you serious?!?”

Maki couldn’t help herself as the words flew out of her mouth and towards the man in front of her, his arms outstretched to expose his vital organs. 

“Dead serious, now can you get to it please?”

“Death jokes aside, I think you might want to rethink this.”

“Oh my god, your job is literally to murder people, why can’t you do this for me?”

Maki crossed her arms. “The fact that you’re so enthusiastic about this is really discerning.”

The prince threw his hands up in agitation. “The fact that you haven’t killed me yet is really discerning!”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“You don’t even make sense!”

“Wow, that was such a great comeback, my confidence is shaken.”

“Could it be possible that me annoying you has maybe pushed you mentally over the edge and you can now kill me in an anger-induced rage?”

“Absolutely not.”

“DAMMIT!!!”

—————————————————————————

(About a week earlier)

Prince Kaito sat upon his throne, leaning on his elbow with his chin in his hand. He was barely paying attention to Byakuya, the royal adviser, tell his parents the financial state of the kingdom, but from the pained looks on their faces, he could tell it wasn’t good. 

“.....And you still need to finish paying off your debts to the Nevermind clan to the North,” Byakuya finished. 

The king waved him off. “Yes, thank you, Byakuya.”

With a curt nod, Byakuya turned on his heel and exited the room. 

The moment the door closed behind him, the king buried his face and his hands and began to break down in tears.

The queen placed her hand comfortingly on her husband’s shoulder. “It’ll be alright, dear,” she soothed, “we’ll pay off the debts soon-“

“How soon is ‘soon’?!?” The king snapped, turning to face his wife. 

Kaito’s heart sunk at the sight of his father; he could see a despair like no other lurking in his watery eyes. 

“This kingdom has been in debt since before my father, and his father before him, and his before that! The Momota clan has always been in severe debt, and at this rate, poor Kaito’s great grandchildren will still be paying it off!!”

Attempting to comfort his dad, Kaito placed his hand on his father’s thigh. “Hey don’t talk about that. I’m sure you’ll be able to play off the debts in no time. I mean, there’s gotta be a way to get all that money without borrowing from the other kingdoms, right?”

The king looked at his son with a sad smile. “Heh, you always have been quite the optimist.” He turned his eyes to the ground. “But it’s going take more than just good vibes to fix this issue, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, so why don’t you just go die already?”

“Kokichi!!!!” The queen threw her younger son a dirty look. Kokichi, who had been silently observing the whole scene until now, grinned cheekily. “What? It was only a lie.”

The queen groaned. Oh, how incredibly annoying her son could be. He had been a compulsive liar for just about all of his life, and it had only gotten worse since he realized that he, the younger child, would not be becoming king. She suspected his head was full of malcontents, yet she didn’t dare question him about it. 

“Kokichi, we’ve been over this,” she began with a facepalm, “you can’t keep lying all the time! If something were to happen to Kaito and you become king, our people want an honest king that they know they can trust.”

Kokichi smirked and rested his legs over his throne’s armrest. “Well, I mean, if I’m the king, I’ll have total power, so it won’t really matter what the people want. I mean what’s the worse they can do, kill me?”

“You know assasination is a thing, right?”

“No one even asked you, Kaito!!”

Kaito shrugged, “I mean, you kinda were?”

“BOYS!” The king interrupted. Then he sighed. If he had known boys were this difficult, he’d’ve hoped for a daughter. “This concludes our monthly financial situation. You two are free to go.”

Kokichi fist pumped the air. “Alright!” He jumped out of his throne and dashed out of the room.

Kaito got up as well, but before leaving the throne room, he turned to face his dad and said with a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, Dad, I’m sure everything’s gonna turn out fine.”

“I don’t think that it’ll be quite as easy as you think,” The king replied with a weak smile, “but I do appreciate it, Kaito.”

With a grin, Kaito strode out of the room. 

The king sighed again as soon as his son left. “He’s got a lot to learn before he can become king.”

The queen nodded and added, “You have to admire how positive he is about it, though.”

“Yes, I suppose you do.”

—————————————————————————

Kaito shoved his hands in his pants pockets as he walked down one of the many winding hallways of the castle. It had been built almost one hundred years ago, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. It was as pristine and sturdy as the day it was built. The maintenance of the servants had certainly been effective over the years, even though most of them left due to lack of payment. 

The reason the Momota clan was so buried in debt had been long forgotten, but what they owed was far from forgettable. It was known across the land that they were the poorest kingdom, mostly because most money produced had to go into paying off the debts. 

Because of the lack to pay, many citizens packed up and left. Many servants had allegedly left shortly after debt became too big, leaving only a few whom were loyal to the royal family. The royal guard disbanded as well, leaving the kingdom ridden with crime. With not enough workers and not enough money to pay them, the kingdom risked falling to ruin. 

Kaito sighed. There _had_ to be something he could do. 

His mind wandered to when Kokichi told him to die earlier. He had said he was lying, but was he? He never knew with that guy. And that comeback about assasination he came up with was pretty good. That would show him. (Kaito knew that it would not, in fact, show him.)

Then a thought came to him.

He stopped dead in his tracks. That-that would be crazy, trying to do something like that right?

But could it be crazy enough to work?

Curious, he spun around and started walking in the direction he came from, towards the library. 

—————————————————————————

“Here is that book you asked for, your Majesty,” Kirumi said, handing a book to Kaito. 

With a genuine smile, Kaito thanked the maid and made his way to one of the big comfy library chairs to read. Kirumi had always been one of his favorite maids, she was almost close enough to be considered a friend. Though her constant professionalism sometimes made things kind of awkward. 

After settling down in the chair, Kaito reread the title of the book: _The Complete Legal Guide To The Land of Kibōgamine_. This would be useful, if not tedious. With a moment to mentally prepare himself for the boredom to come, Kaito sucked it up and opened the book. 

He spent several hours poring over the long and boring legality terms in the many, many, _many_ pages of the book. It wasn’t until he had almost finished the book that he had found what he was looking for. 

_In the event that a prince or princess is killed or dies, the royal family is to receive 1,000,000,000 insurance in their currency._

Kaito grinned. That was great to hear. And now he knew exactly how he could help his family get out of debt. 

Sure, it was risky, and kind of terrible, but the best results in life come from risk. Besides, his parents would be so happy to finally get out of their lifetime of debt, and Kokichi could become king like he always wanted. 

Ripping the page out of the book and shoving into his pocket, Kaito raced out of the library. 

He had a lot of work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Kirumi later found out he ripped a page out of one of the PRICELESS AND EXPENSIVE BOOKS and was very pissed)
> 
> So yeah that’s the first chapter!!! I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter is going to cover Maki’s point of view and Shuichi doesn’t show up until much later. But please feel free to let me know what you like, what you didn’t, what I can fix (I’ve never written a DR fanfic before) And the next update should be out soon, so I’ll see you all then!!!!! 
> 
> -CC


	2. 2. A Huge Job Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a slow month, it was about time Maki got a job offer. Of course, it would help if her colleague wasn’t an idiot *cough*Miu*cough*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO WRITE ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS (ESP MIU) 
> 
> Also in the bar scene that shows up in this chapter, I unironically considered naming the bar the Salty Spittoon bc spongebob references. 
> 
> Please enjoy and I hope I didn’t fuck up Miu’s characterization.

(Three days later)

Maki Harukawa was lying on a couch as she twirled her knife around her fingers boredly. It had been a slow month for jobs, which, while not necessarily a _bad_ thing, meant she spent most days in the back of the shop, playing with her weapons. 

The assassin clan Maki was in had a little flower shop they used as a front. Not only did it keep them under the radar, but it also made a decent profit for weapons and basic necessities in the event of a slow month or two. The customers that came in looking for their ‘special offer’ had to ask if their chrysanthemum and aconite bouquet had been finished. A member would bring them to the back room where the real business happened. 

Maki sighed and stabbed her knife into the wall next to her. She stared at the clock. 3:47 AM. Still over four hours left in her shift. She naturally took the night shift, because anyone who came by would likely come for an assassin. Like, who buys flowers in the middle of the night?

She heard the bell from the front door chime open. She smirked. _About time._

She picked herself up off the couch and willed herself to open the door, trying to seem friendly and approachable. She opened the door with a fake yet not entirely terrifying smile. 

“Hello, how may I– oh, it’s just you.” Her barely friendly demeanor dropped instantly.

It was only her colleagues, Korekiyo Shunguji And Miu Iruma. She wasn’t particularly fond of them, but they could be helpful during the more dangerous jobs, so she tolerated them. 

Kiyo smiled, the fabric of his facial mask curling with his mouth. “Don’t be so surprised, Maki. We did tell you we were going to be stopping by.”

“.......No you didn’t.”

“Oh fuck!” Miu groaned with a facepalm. “I totally forgot to tell her we were stopping by.”

Kiyo calmly said, “Do not worry about it. Everyone makes mistakes.” Yet the tension in his body told Maki that he was probably not okay with this. 

“Anyway,” Maki said in an attempt to change the subject, “what are you doing here so late? Your shift doesn’t start for another few hours.”

“Yeah, But we decided to come and help out; I think we got a big job tonight.”

Maki squinted at Miu and asked, “And what makes you think that?”

Miu smirked. “Well you see, it all started earlier at the bar.....”

(Flashback time, bitches)

_Miu stepped out of the men’s bathroom with a smirk on her face. That guy she met earlier wouldn’t be able to walk for a week._

_She sauntered her way back to the bar and took a seat. When the bartender came her way, she ordered, “Give me a real kicker.” She technically wasn’t legally allowed to drink, but when all the people that gathered at the Wilted Rose were dangerous people, you really didn’t want to get on their bad side. Especially when you kill people for a living._

_With in a few minutes, the bartender had made her an A.M.F. with a very elaborate swirly straw. Grinning maliciously, she slipped the straw into her mouth and began to drink._

_A man slid into the stool next to her. He wore a brooding black cloak and a mask of a creepy monochrome bear. She could tell he wanted to talk to her, but was intimidated by her tight dress and dangerous-looking jewelry. Most people were._

_After a few minutes of no interaction, the man finally spoke up. “They say that if someone needs a dirty job done, you’re the one to ask.”_

_“Depends on what kind of job you were looking for. I’m not some girl you can buy off the streets,” she snapped._

_The man became nervous and sputtered, “N-no! Wait, that’s not w-what I meant-“_

_Miu cut him off with a harsh laugh. “I was obviously kidding, dumbass! Clearly I’ve have sex with more people than I’ve met!”_

_Obviously thrown by her change in moods, the man simply agreed, “Um, yeah. Clearly.”_

_“So who do you need gone?” Miu asked, resting her elbow on the bar and her chin on her hand. “Client late on debts? Spouse cheating on you? Friend stab you in the back, figuratively or literally?”_

_The man cleared his throat and tugged at his cloak’s collar nervously. “Uh, no. The person I need......taken care of...... is someone of a little more..........uh, status.”_

_Raising her eyebrows, Miu purred, “Oooooh, a big job! You probably don’t want the people here knowing about your big plans, do you?”_

_“Yeah, that would be ideal,” The man answered._

_Miu looked him down. She couldn’t tell what he looked like because of the cloak and the mask, but from the sound of his voice he was probably hot. This, of course, had nothing to do with whether she would help him or not; she just liked hot guys._

_“I’ll tell you what.” She pulled the business card for Usami Florals, the flower store. “Stop by here late tonight and we’ll discuss the details.”_

_Taking the card and staring at it, the man said, “Wow, thanks, I really–“ he cut himself off once she realized that Miu– and by extension, her A.M.F.– were gone. He looked around the bar quickly, but he could not find her._

_Miu had already left the bar, still sipping her drink. She was glad in that moment for having a strong alcohol resilience, and made her way over to Kiyo’s place. If Maki was all by herself at the store, and this job was as big as the man made it out to be, they were gonna need some assistance._

__

“Wait, so you stole a glass from the bar?”

__

“Is that seriously all you got from the story, you stupid whore?” Miu whined. “I mean, it’s not like they’ll miss it or anything. Besides, I managed to get us a HUGE job offer! Aren’t I a genius?” She grinned, teeming with arrogance. 

__

Kiyo rolled his eyes. “Considering you might have just led an undercover guard to us and gotten us all arrested and executed, no, you are not a genius.”

__

Miu’s confidence immediate crumbled, and she began to shake like a leaf. She whimpered, “An undercover guard?!? W-what makes you so sure that that’s what he was?”

__

“Why else would he wear such a ridiculous costume?”

__

“Good question.”

__

The three killers turned to face the door, where a man in a black cloak with a black and white bear mask stood. They had been so enraptured in Miu’s story, they hadn’t heard the bell chime. 

__

They all froze, unsure of what to do. 

__

The man walked over to the counter and leaned on it. “Now,” he began nonchalantly, eyeing the flower displays, “If I were secretly a guard, wouldn’t I be more effective if I tried to blend in rather than stick out like a spot of blood on a wedding dress?”

__

Maki thought it over. It _wouldn’t_ make sense for someone trying to hide to wear such an elaborate disguise. 

__

“Then why are you even wearing that?” She asked. 

__

“Well, you see,” the man shrugged, “I am a man of high status myself. It wouldn’t be acceptable for me to be seen in proletariat services.”

__

Kiyo inquired, “Then, what is it that you ask of us?”

__

The man stared at them. 

__

“I need you to kill the prince.”

__

There was a pause. 

__

“What, like Prince Kokichi?” Miu asked boredly. “I don’t blame you for wanting to off him. I heard he’s annoying as all fu–“

__

“No, not him,” The man interrupted. “The older prince. Kaito.”

__

Maki frowned. She never payed much attention to politics, but she hadn’t heard of Prince Kaito doing anything scandalous or devious. From what she heard, he was a fairly good prince, if an idiot. So why did this guy want him dead?”

__

“I have my reasons for this,” The man added, as if he had read her mind. “I just need you to do it. And.....” He reached into his cloak and pulled out a pouch the size of a watermelon and tossed it onto the counter. “I’ll pay you well.”

__

Maki opened the pouch. Inside was a whole mess of stacks of paper bills. Miu ogled the money hungrily with a sadistic grin. Kiyo raised his eyebrows. Maki remained expressionless, but was still surprised. 

__

“That’s 100,000.” Maki could hear the smirk in the man’s voice. “And you’ll be payed the rest once the job is finished. So what do you say? Will you do it?”

__

He stuck out his hand for a binding handshake. 

__

Maki barely had to think about it as she took his hand. She noted how soft it was. 

__

“It’s a deal.”

__

“Alright!!” The man ripped his hand from her grip and punched the air in excitement. Then, realizing how immature he probably looked, he composed himself quickly. “I mean, yes. That’s great thank you.”

__

He promptly turned around and made his way to the door. And before he left, he turned back to the assasins and said, “He needs to be dead in four days time. I’m trusting you guys on this one.”

__

And then he left. 

__

Maki spoke up first. “I’m doing it.”

__

“What? Like by yourself? Why?!? You cant hog all the credit, bitch!”

__

“Perhaps, but the castle is heavily guarded, and it’s better if one of us gets caught than all of us.”

__

“I can still do it!”

__

Kiyo stares at her incredulously. “Miu, you would rat us out within five minutes of being caught.”

__

“Y-you don’t know that!!!” Miu whined nervously. 

__

“I’m going alone and that’s final,” Maki commanded. “Now, if that’s all you two showed up here for, I suggest you rest up for your shifts, because I still need to finish mine.”

__

Kiyo And Miu shared a look, muttered some half-assed goodbyes, and left the store. 

__

Maki went back into the back room and lay on the couch again. Pulling her knife out of the wall, she twirled it around her fingers again, devising a plan to get into the castle undetected. 

__

This would be an interesting job.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah that chapter was a thing. I was gonna make Maki’s murder attempt this chapter, but then it started getting long, so that’ll be next time. Some of you are probably wondering where the hell Shuichi is, but he’s not gonna show up until like chapter 4 or 5, so please be patient. I’ll try to have a new chapter up later this week. Maki and Kaito are gonna meet up and it’s gonna be WEIRD for EVERYONE involved. That’s really all I have this chapter. See you next time!!!! 
> 
> -CC


	3. 3. An Unexpected Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maki breaks in to do her job, but then something weird happens and Maki has a mini mental breakdown because WHAT IS WITH THIS GUY?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter’s super long because I couldn’t find a good place to start. Also, I 5000% named the useless guard characters after the boys in The Adventure Zone: Balance. 
> 
> Because I’m TAZ garbage as well as DR garbage. 
> 
> Enjoy.

(Four days later)

Maki peered at the doorway with her binoculars, perched in a tree. Trees were a great way to stay hidden, and, with the air of binoculars, get a good scope of your target area.

There was basically a whole squadron of guards in front of the door, so going that way was a no. She looked along the side of the castle looking for an unguarded window or door. 

And she found one; on the left side of the palace, on the fifth floor, there was a small window without any bars or guards near it. 

Maki sighed. Of course it had to be on the fifth floor.

Well, she wouldn’t get anywhere by complaining about it. So instead, she made her way down the tree and silently dropped down to the ground. She took off the backpack she was wearing and rummaged around for a minute before pulling out a grappling gun. Better to get it out now should the sound of her rustling around catch the attention of guards.

She crept through the tall grass surrounding the castle. As she neared the building, she noticed a few guards loitering around the side of the building, right were she needed to be. _Great_ , she thought. _Now I need to get rid of these morons_. 

She made her way towards the men. There were three of them. She could handle three. 

As she got closer, she heard the tail end of their conversation.

“.....I’m telling you, Magnus, Kravitz has got the hots for me. I mean, did you see how he was staring at my ass?”

The buffest guard scoffed, “You sure he wasn’t staring because you’re the weirdo that stuck the word ‘juicy’ on the ass of his armor?”

The third guard began snickering uncontrollably, falling to the ground in his fit of laughter. 

The first guard, a slim fellow, huffed his breath annoyedly. “It’s not my fault these pants aren’t flattering. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Rolling his eyes, Magnus, the buff guard, turned to his other friend. “Merle, don’t you thing Taako is being a little–MERLE??????”

The smallest of the guards, Merle, had stopped laughing on the ground. In fact, he had stopped moving all together. 

“Holy shit!!” Taako shrieked. “Is he dead?!?!?”

“No, no I don’t think so.” Magnus knelt down and placed his fingers on his still friend’s neck. 

He sighed in relief. He was just unconscious. 

“See, Taako? Nothing to worry abo-FUCK!!!!” He leapt to his feet at the sight of his other friend facedown in the ground, also unconscious. 

He heard a twig snap behind him. Whipping out his sword he turned his back to the castle. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” He shouted. 

He felt a hand grab his shoulder and something small and sharp prick into his neck. He swatted lightly at the hand before his consciousness floated away and he slid to the ground. 

Maki pushed the guard to the side and tucked the empty needle back into her sleeping serum set. Better to hang on to a dirty needle than to leave evidence behind. Still, she marked the third needle with a black marker to prevent using it on someone else. She may have been an assassin, but causing unnecessary deaths was a thing she tried to avoid. 

She looked at her sleeping serum kit and sighed. _Only two needles left. Hopefully, I won’t need to use them,_ she thought as the kit went back into her backpack. 

She’d wasted enough time on the guards. Time to really get down to business. 

She picked the grappling gun off the ground and aimed it at the window. Fire. It plonked off the side of the building and fell back to the grass below. 

Rolling her eyes, Maki flicked out a little handle on the side of the gun and began reeling the rope back into the barrel. Missing your target was annoying when it meant you had to spend like five minutes reloading. 

Once the rope had been completely swallowed by the barrel, she aimed and fired again. This time it caught on the edge of the window and stayed secure. 

Tugging lightly to make sure it wouldn’t slip, Maki remover the rope part from the gun, slipped the gun into her bag, threw the bag onto her shoulder and began to scale the castle.

 _I wonder what the prince is like,_ Maki felt herself wondering as she climbed the rope. She brushed those thoughts away. While her opinions were typically valued by her peers, they weren’t necessary in this situation. Why would a to-be-dead guy’s personality matter?

 _It doesn’t,_ Maki reinforced to herself as she crawled into the window and onto the floor of a large hallway. _I just need to finish this job._

She began to creep through the hallway. The expensive-looking rug was purple, as was most of the decor, with accents of white and gold. There were wooden doors upon doors upon doors lining the hall, most of them probably leading to useless rooms of no interest to Maki. 

When ever a guard or a maid made their way down the hall, Maki was careful to remain unseen, hiding behind curtains or eloquent statues of various gods. Should she be caught now, it would all be over. 

After wandering the halls for a while, she came across a room with a big black and white checked door. She stopped in front of it and inspected this. This wasn’t like the other doors she had past; wooden and simple. This one was clearly more interesting and– she observed by tapping on it lightly– metal? Could it possibly the door to the prince’s room–?

“I STILL don’t see why you felt the need to walk me back to my room, Kaito.”

At the first sound of voices, Maki ducked behind a curtain and held her breath in nervousness.

Another voice spoke. “Hey, no need to get all defensive, Kokichi! I just wanted to make sure got back to your room okay, that’s all!”

There was a familiarity in that second voice that Maki couldn’t put her finger on. So instead of thinking about it more, she mentally urged the people talking to go away so she could find the other prince. 

The person referred to as Kokichi– Maki knew this was the younger, more annoying prince, not her target– whined to his companion, “But Kaaaaiiiiiittooooooooo, I don’t want you walking me to my roooooooooooom. I’m basically an adult!

“Hey, you never know what could happen! Maybe an assassin is creeping through the halls trying to kill you! You don’t know that!”

Maki rolled her eyes. If only he knew. 

She could hear Kokichi punch the other guy and say, “Don’t say stuff like that, Kaito! You’re gonna jinx it!”

“Since when do you believe in jinxes?”

Kokichi _pshhhh_ ed. “I’ve _always_ believed in jinxes! You just never asked about it!”

Maki swore she could hear the other guy rolling his eyes. “Sure, okay, Pants-on-fire. Maybe try not to stay up all night planning your tyranny again.”

“I make no promises,” Kokichi answered, and within a second the sound of a door opening and closing rang through the hall. 

The other man sighed. “Weirdo,” he muttered, auidibly walking away from the door. 

Maki waited a few seconds before peeking out from behind the curtain. She could see the back of the other man walking away. He wore a purple jacket (though only one sleeve was full of arm; did he lose the other one?), purple pants, and white fluffy slippers. His hair was also purple (Maki was beginning to notice a theme) and upon it rested what looked like a golden crown. 

Then it occurred to Maki that Kokichi had been referring to this other guy as ‘Kaito’.

That just so happened to be the name of the prince she was supposed to kill. 

Maki immediately began to follow the prince through the halls. She would’ve killed him right then and there, but it was too out in the open. She preferred taking out her victims in secluded areas, where she would be less likely to be interrupted. 

She took note of how popular the prince seemed to be with the staff. Every time a servant or guard walked past (and Maki subsequently hid behind something), she could hear the prince greeting them by name and making some small talk. Whomever he conversed with seemed happy to be talking with him, but whether that was out of duty or genuine pleasure, Maki would never know. Not that it mattered anyway. 

After trailing after him for about fifteen minutes, Maki finally watched the prince open a large door covered in stars and go inside. _This must be his bedroom,_ Maki noted. 

Scanning her surroundings, Maki crept over to the door and stuck her foot in just before it closed all the way. She opened it just enough for her to slip through and entered his room. 

It was pretty big for a bedroom, but that was to be expected for a prince. There was a large desk cluttered with books and papers. A model moon hung from the starry sky-painted ceiling. There was a telescope pointing out a glass circle on the ceiling, and a couch sat nearby. A huge canopy bed sat on the far side of the room. On either side of it were huge open windows. And on the bed, sat Prince Kaito, staring expectantly at the window. She now noticed that he was not missing an arm, but rather had left his other arm out of the coat sleeve. Weirdo. 

Maki reached under her skirt and took out the knife strapped to her thigh. 

It was time. 

Slowly but steadily she crept towards the bed, being careful not to make too much noise.

She got closer. 

The prince stared out the window, looking impatient. 

She was at the bed now. 

He suddenly frowned. 

She raised her knife. 

He turned around. 

They both froze, wide-eyed, Maki with her knife raised, prepared to bring it down on his face and Kaito sitting on the bed. 

There was a very long and very awkward silence. 

Then finally Kaito spoke up. 

“Oh, sweet! You finally came!” Kaito grinned. 

_what._

“I mean,” he continued, scratching the back of his head, “it’s not like you’re late or anything. You could show up whenever you wanted to. I’m just glad you didn’t bail on me or anything. Uh, n-not that I was expecting you to bail!” He added nervously. 

_WHAT._

“It’s just, not everyone can handle being told to just like, ‘go and kill the prince.’ I mean it’s kind of a big responsibility and everything, but I’m glad you stood up to the challenge.”

_WHAT???????????_

“Oh, man. I’ve been rambling on for a while now, haven’t I?” Kaito said sheepishly. “I’m so sorry, I’ll let you get to it now.” He stood up off the bed and held out his arms so that his torso, holding many vital organs, was exposed. He lifted his neck to give access to his neck and closed his eyes. 

“Do your worst.”

Maki was still frozen with her knife held in the air. This......was insane. She had no idea how to react in this situation. What was even wrong with this guy?!?

She slowly pointed her knife-wielding hand at Kaito. “What the hell are you doing, idiot?”

Kaito opened his eyes and stared at her incredulously. “Dude, I’m waiting for you to kill me. Duh.”

“Obviously, but why are you so calm about this? I literally knocked out three guards, climbed a five story wall, snuck around for like half an hour trying to find you, and now you’re just gonna stand there and let me kill you?”

“Would you like me to start screaming in terror?”

“Dear god, please don’t,” Maki groaned, hiding her face in her hands in frustration. The last thing she needed was the entire royal guard finding her there with a knife near the prince.

“Why don’t you just look at this as me making your job easier? Would that help you?”

“Are you serious?!?”

“Dead serious, now can you get to it please?”

“Death jokes aside, I think you might want to rethink this.”

“Oh my god, your job is literally to murder people, why can’t you do this for me?”

Maki crossed her arms. “The fact that you’re so enthusiastic about this is really discerning.”

The prince threw his hands up in agitation. “The fact that you haven’t killed me yet is really discerning!”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“You don’t even make sense!”

“Wow, that was such a great comeback, my confidence is shaken.”

“Could it be possible that me annoying you has maybe pushed you mentally over the edge and you can now kill me in an anger-induced rage?”

“Absolutely not.”

“DAMMIT!!!

“Why do you even want to die so badly? What do you even get out of this?”

Kaito was getting mad now. “I’m not getting _anything_ out of this! Hell, I don’t even want to die!”

“Then why are you going through with this?” Maki asked exasperatedly. 

“BECAUSE MY FAMILY NEEDS THE MONEY! I CAN’T LET THEM SUFFER BECAUSE OF OUR DEBT ANYMORE!” Kaito snapped.

Maki stared at him. She wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that. 

Kaito breathed heavily as he stared back, having tired himself out from all the arguing. Looking away, he muttered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Maki couldn’t care less about the yelling, she’d been treated worse before. She asked, “How does your death bring your family money? I mean, didn’t you arrange for me to kill you?”

Kaito whipped his head back to her. “How’d you figure that out?!? I wore a mask and everything!!!”

“I recognized your voice. You didn’t even try to disguise it or anything.”

“...Dammit.” 

“So how does you dying lead to your family getting money anyway?” Maki asked again, planting her hands on her hips. 

A strange smile creeped onto the prince’s face. “I’ll show you,” He said, and rushed past Maki towards the other side of the room. She was about to ask where the hell he thought he was going when he ducked behind a dressing screen she had missed on the way in and rolled out a whiteboard on wheels. It was covered in lots of pictures and footnotes, and at the top was entitled, “How To Get My Parents Out Of Debt By Staging My Own Assasination By Kaito of the Momota Clan.”

Maki frowned at sight of the title. “Isn’t that title a little long? And kind of incriminating?”

“Probably not,” Kaito shrugged. “Okay, so this-” he pulled a wooden pointer out of nowhere and tapped it on the board, “-is my genius plan to get my kingdom out of debt and my brother into the throne, though that second part is just because if I die, that’s what’ll happen.”

“Wait, I’m confu-“

“Stage one!” Kaito interrupted, smacking his pointer against a picture of a crudely drawn Prince Kaito holding and even more crudely drawn....box? “I research everything I can about law, insurance, what happens if a prince dies prior to being crowned.” _Oh its a book, he tried to draw a book._ “According to the old laws of Kibōgamine, when a prince or princess is killed, the royal family gets a billion in life insurance. Now if only there were a way to get me killed! That’s where you come in. Now in stage two-“

“Wait, couldn’t you have just killed your brother?”

Kaito considered this. “Well, yeah,” he eventually answered, “but I don’t think I’d be able to follow through on killing him. Besides, he’s always wanted to become king someday, but was cursed with being born after me. I just see this as a way of making it up to him.” 

Maki still didn’t really understand his reasoning, but let him continue explaining. 

“Stage two was to sneak out of the castle unnoticed. It involved a lot of climbing out and then in into that window-“ he pointed at the window on the right of his bed, “-but it worked pretty well because the guards don’t come there between 11 at night and 4 in the morning. Figured that out after 18 years of stargazing. I just borrowed a cloak and a mask from my brothers room and made my way to that one bar, the Wilted Rose.”

“You met my colleague there,” Maki pointed out, “And then you came to the flower shop.”

“Exactly.” Kaito grinned, and slammed his pointer on another picture, a poorly drawn assassin stabbing Kaito, with Xs over his eyes and blood everywhere. “Stage three is this current stage, the part where you kill me. No explanation needed there, obviously.”

“Yeah....obviously.....”

“And finally-“ Kaito smacked the pointer with such force, the tip broke off and little splinters of wood cascaded down the picture of the king, the queen, and Kokichi surrounded by so, so many bags of money.

He winced. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Still, he continued, “-finally, stage four is my family gets to claim my life insurance and pay of several generations worth of debt. I get a sick funeral, and I probably end up chilling with my dead grandparents in the afterlife or something. So, yeah, that’s my plan.”

Maki had long since put her knife away, and considered taking it out again as she crossed her arms. “I’ll admit, it’s not completely terrible, but you still have some issues to resolve.”

“Oh really?” Kaito also crossed his arms. “Name three.”

“Well for starters,” She started, walking over to the whiteboard and picking a marker off its little holder, “you didn’t tell your family about this did you?”

“Of course not, why would I?”

“I don’t know, maybe your family cares about you and will be emotionally devastated after you die.” Wiping away the faces of the stage four picture, Maki replaced them with crying faces. “Your family will be financially stable, but severely depressed.”

Kaito tried and failed not to show his anxiety. “Well, maybe, but–“

“Second of all,” Maki continued, “If I were to kill you, you don’t have a way of paying me afterwards.”

“Okay, it’s funny you mention that, because actually,” Kaito pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, “I’ve already taken care of that.”

Maki took the paper. It was his will. It stated, among other useless things about who gets his telescope and star stickers, that in the event that he should die, he wants 900,000 worth of funeral flowers from Usami Florals. 

“So you’re paying us for both killing you _and_ your funeral flowers,” Maki asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, no, I just figured you’d make a bunch of expensive looking arrangements and just tell my parents that it costs 900,000.”

“You really have no idea how money works, do you?”

Before Kaito could protest, Maki finished up, “And finally, if you really want to get your parents insurance money, but don’t really want to die....” She crossed out the assasination scene of stage three, drew a line pointing away from it, scribbled down an alternative and stepped away to show Kaito. 

“....why don’t you just fake your own death?”

Kaito was silent for a few minutes. Then he simply said, “Oh.”

“‘Oh?’ Is that really all you have to-“

There was a knock at the door. “Prince Kaito, are you alright in there?”

“Shit!” Kaito whispered. He grabbed the whiteboard and rolled it back behind the dressing screen. Then he rushed back out, picked up Maki and plopped her behind the screen as well. 

“Hey! What are you-“

Kaito was already at the door and opened it, taking away Maki’s shot at punching him in the face. 

A young maid was standing in the doorway. Maki ducked behind the screen and tried not to breathe too much. 

“Prince Kaito, are you okay? I thought I heard another voice in there,” she said. 

Kaito replied, “Another voice? Kirumi, you must be mistaken. The only person in here is me.”

“I see.” She bowed in apology. “I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kaito waves her off with a flick of his wrist. Once she’s gone, he shuts the door and makes his way back to the screen. 

“I’m so sorry about that, I shouldn’t have-“

_THWACK._

Kaito fell to the floor, his hand floating up to his cheek. Maki’s fist remained raised from when she punched him. 

“That’s for touching me.”

Then she held her hand out to help him up. 

Kaito looked at it for a second, then nervously grabbed it. He yelped in surprised when she pulled him up so quickly. 

“Thanks?”

“Don’t mention it.” Maki walked over to his window. “I’ll be back in a week. You might want to ice that bruise.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on,” Kaito called as he ran to the window to meet her. “What do you mean you’ll be back?”

Maki gave him a look. “I’m helping you fake your death, moron.” 

“.....T-Thanks,” Kaito stuttered awkwardly. 

“Don’t mention it.”

But before she could completely slide out the window, Kaito grabbed her wrist and asked, “Wait, before you go.....what’s your name?”

Maki blinked. She guessed she really hadn’t told him. 

“Maki.”

Then she ripped her arm out of his grip and she was gone. 

Kaito couldn’t do much other than walk backwards and fall onto his bed in shock. It had been a weird night. 

“Maki.....”

—————————————————————————

Later that night, Maki walked along the barren dark streets near the flower store. She needed to ask for a favor. 

Soon she had stopped by her destination. The small store was very popular during the day, so she knew she wouldn’t be able to talk to the owners alone until night. 

She stood in front of the door and stared at the knocker. She really didn’t want to talk to these girls. They were super weird and probably in a cult. Still, she told Kaito she would help him, for some reason, so she kind of had to do this. 

Taking a deep breath, she lifted the knocker and knocked three times hard. 

The door opened impossibly fast. 

“Why, hello there, Maki! What brings you here today!”

Maki sighed. 

“Hello, Angie. Get Tsumugi. I have a favor to ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so I hope you all enjoy this super special long chapter because I won’t be updating for a while (AKA before Valentine’s Day) bc I’ve made a resolution to update at least one of my fics before continuing this one bc I NEED TO FINISH SOME OF THESE LIKE GEEZ. But yeah post-Valentines day I’ll probably update this again, so please be patient. I hope you liked it and I’ll see you next time!!!
> 
> -CC


	4. 4. A Complication To The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaito learns some troubling news while Maki puts the pieces into place to help Kaito fake his own death.....for some reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had an idea for how Kaito’s death is gonna be faked but I don’t think it’s a very good reason but also you know ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ also I’m sorry for making y’all wait like 5 years for an update lmao I’ve been hella busy

“Have a devine day, Maki! Bye-onara!!!”

“Yes! We will have your order ready in one week. We will see you then!!!”

Maki merely gave a single firm nod of affirmation before stepping outside, shutting the door behind her. 

She sighed. She _really_ hated asking those two for favors. Their personalities really clashed with hers completely (well, Tsumugi less so, but she could still be irritating), and Angie was constantly trying to get her to convert to her to her weird cult. Yet, their services were too useful to give up, so she could endure it for a time.

Besides, this was their most popular product. It wouldn’t be to much to ask them to recreate it, even with a few...... _adjustments_.

Walking down the street in the cool night air, she asked herself a single question; Why was she doing this?

Why didn’t she kill Kaito once she learned she wouldn’t fight back? Why did she say she’d be back? Why did she tell him he’d help him? _Why did she tell him her name?!?!?_

As complicated as those questions might seem, there was a simple answer to all of them. 

She didn’t know. 

Looking back on her previous jobs, she was in and out in less than an hour. She didn’t question the client’s motivation nor entertained possible reasonings. She simply took care of business as swiftly as possible. 

But this time it was different. 

Of course, she had never met a client who was _also _her victim.__

__But still, she had hesitated. There was something about the look of shock and fear in his eyes that left her paralyzed._ _

__Maki tried to remove the thoughts from her head. She came up upon the door to the flower shop and entered._ _

__Miu was asleep on the front counter, snoring loudly, drool trickling down her chin._ _

__Maki facepalmed. _This_ was why she didn’t let the others take her shift. _ _

__She snuck around the counter to the door to the back room and ducked inside. No need to start her shift if someone else was already doing it. She made sure to slam the door, and she could hear Miu awake with a start on the other side._ _

She snuck through the back room and down a short hallway to a locked door. Slipping a key from her pocket, she stuck it in and twisted it with the handle. 

The door remained shut. 

Maki drew her foot back and delivered a swift kick to the edge of the door. 

It creaked open without much trouble. 

Maki shook any remaining pain out of her foot and headed up the stairs behind the door to her apartment above the store. 

It wasn’t particularly fancy, despite her paycheck being able to pay for much better, but it was comfortable; a one room with a functioning kitchen, bathroom, a small closet, and a couch that pulled out into a bed. There was a large window facing the street in front, allowing her to watch people enter the flower shop, and an equally large bookshelf across from the couch. And of course, in her closet, behind her few clothes, was a large number of swords, knives, arrows, and her crossbow. Just to be safe, of course. 

She had time to kill, so she went over to her bookcase and began to scan the titles. A good chunk of them were, in fact, books on assasination, but they were mostly mystery novels and history books.

She picked a murder mystery she had read before (it was the writer) but she had enjoyed it, so she lied down on her couch before starting it, trying not to focus on how similar the detective’s best friend was to Kaito. 

—————————————————————————  
(One week later)

Kaito was awakened by a bright light shining in his face. Which was weird because the sun didn’t reach his bed from his window. 

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead!!”

“Go away, Kokichi,” Kaito groaned, rolling over and covering his head with his comforter.

Taking the comforter in his hands, Kokichi ripped it off, causing Kaito to tumble to the floor in a heap. “No can do, bro-bro. Mom and Dad want to see you, and they said it was important.”

Kaito rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion with his hand. “Fine, just go away. God.”

“As you wish, my prince,” Kokichi mockingly bowed and scampered from the room, giggling all the while. 

Rubbing his eyes, Kaito sat up and saw the mirror his brother had strategically placed to make the sunlight shine in his eyes.

He made his way to his feet, full of aggravation, and moved the mirror away from the light. He then begrudgingly put on some clothes and made his way out of his room. 

He was worried about what his parents might want, but he was more concerned about the assassin, Maki.

He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of her. Why did she spare his life? More importantly, why did she decide to help him? It would have been easier for her to just leave him and go on with her life, so why was she doing this? 

He mentally concluded that he had absolutely no clue. 

“Kaito.”

Kaito looked up. He had absently made his way to the throne room and his parents were sitting in their distinctive thrones. They looked almost... excited? 

“Hi, guys, Kokichi said you wanted to talk t-“

“Kaito, we’ve been thinking and we think it’s about time you become king.”

Kaito’s words caught in his throat. All cognitive thoughts came to a halting stop. “W-what?”

His father explained, “I’m getting old, Kaito, and it’s getting harder for me to run Momota like I used to. You’ve already become of age, so your mother and I think it’s time we made it official. Obviously we’ll still be here to help you make some of the more important decisions and advise you, but ultimately it will be you making the calls in the Kingdom.”

Kaito managed to choke out, “B-but I thought princes only became kings when the former king dies.” 

A thought even worse than worse than becoming king came to Kaito. “Wait, shit, are you dying?!??”

The king and queen shook their heads vigorously. “No, no, no no no no no, no one is dying, Kaito.” Kaito felt himself relax, if only a little. “We just felt it was time, since you are eighteen, and could’ve technically become king months ago.”

Kaito could feel his plan falling to pieces. How could he get the kingdom out of debt by faking his own death if he became king? It would be a lot harder to fake die if he became king!!! Not to mention there was another obstacle his parents didn’t seem to take in to consideration.

“But what about the fact that I’m n-“

A fist was brought down on the armrest of the king’s throne. Kaito clamped his mouth shut. 

“Kaito,” his father addressed him, his voice stern, but caring. “You know that that isn’t important to us and isn’t important to our kingdom. We love you and we know you’re going to be a great king.”

His father continued talking, something about honor and prestige, but Kaito wasn’t listening. He was barely thinking. The only thing going through his head was the word “king”, burying itself into his brain like a knife. He shouldn’t be king. He didn’t _want_ to be king. His chest felt like it was closing in on itself. 

He barely noticed himself falling to the floor or his parents rushing over to help him.

The last thing he thought before losing consciousness was _Dammit, this is gonna make everything more complicated._

—————————————————————————

Maki was rudely awakened by the sound of someone knocking loudly at her door. Groaning, she rubbed her eyes, swung her legs over the side of the couch, and picked her half-opened book off her lap. 

After deciding that falling asleep while reading, she put her book down on one of the couch cushions and made her way to the stairs as the knocking persisted. 

“Do you want to die? I’m coming,” she called out, as she walked down the stairs and threw open the door.

It was Korekiyo, looking irritated. “I don’t suppose you heard the big news yet, have you?”

Maki stared at him blankly. “Considering the fact that I literally just woke up, no, I haven’t.”

Korekiyo didn’t seemed amused by her tone, in fact he looked even more pissed. “They say that the prince is going to be coronated as king next week.”

“Wow, that’s incredible, I totally needed to know that so early in the morning-“

“It’s almost noon-“

“So thanks for that, Kiyo-“ She attempted to slam the door in his face. 

Kiyo stuck his foot in the door way before it shut completely. He forced the door back open. 

“It is the coronation of Prince _Kaito_.”

Maki continued to stare at him, not registering what he said at first. 

And then it clicked; Kaito was supposed to die last night, not be preparing to become king. 

“Ah.”

Korekiyo stared at her expectantly. 

“There was an accident last night, the prince isn’t dead.” She turned on her heel and went back up the stairs, knowing her fellow assassin would follow her. 

And follow her he did. Korekiyo said condescendingly as he walked up the stairs, “Ah, yes, an ‘accident’, surely our client will be very understanding when he learns that you failed to do your job correctly.”

Maki bit her lip. She couldn’t tell Kiyo about their client’s true identity: the less people who had to deal with all this bullshit, the better. 

“There were guards all around, I couldn’t get a clear shot, and if I got caught it would’ve been all over for all of us,” Maki lied, hoping Korekiyo wouldn’t notice. 

Korekiyo stared at her in silence for a moment, before running his hands through his long hair with a sigh and beginning to pace. 

Maki rolled her eyes and sat back down on her couch and picked her book back up. “I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” she muttered.

Korekiyo glared at her, his mask stretching with the massive grimace on his face. “You could start by going back and _doing your job_ before the client comes back and sees that you have failed, and then proceeds to tell the royal guard about our whole operation!”

The sound of the door bursting open and someone rushing up the stairs cut their conversation short. Miu stood at the top of the stairs, breathing heavily. “Maki,” She panted, “there’s someone here to see you.”

Maki knew who it was before she even got off the couch and made her way down the stairs. She knew who it was before she had even opened the door to the flower shop. 

And she knew who it was before she even got a glimpse of the cloak and monochrome bear mask he wore the first time they met. 

“Yeah, so it seems that we have a situation on our hands,” Kaito said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I’m not super proud of this chapter but like it’s finally done so whatever. I have a better idea of what’s going to happen in later chapters but like y’all are gonna have to bear with me first lol. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you guys (hopefully) soon!
> 
> -CC

**Author's Note:**

> (Kirumi later found out he ripped a page out of one of the PRICELESS AND EXPENSIVE BOOKS and was very pissed)
> 
> So yeah that’s the first chapter!!! I hope you all enjoyed it. The next chapter is going to cover Maki’s point of view and Shuichi doesn’t show up until much later. But please feel free to let me know what you like, what you didn’t, what I can fix (I’ve never written a DR fanfic before) And the next update should be out soon, so I’ll see you all then!!!!! 
> 
> -CC


End file.
